Asia

Turkey’s lira, which has suffered two currency crises since 2018, fell for thesixth-straight day in July, the longest losing streak since mid-May. The lira wastrading down 0.3 percent at 17.28 per dollar in Istanbul on July 07, 2022. Thecurrency has lost almost a quarter of its value this year after sliding by 44 percentin 2021.Market is rife with concerns that the TL will lose more value due to thequestioning of the adequacy of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT)reserves.CBRT weekly data is keenly watched by the analyst. Bankers calculate adecrease in foreign exchange deposits of around $3.5 billion, most of which iscorporate-related. Due to the activity experienced in euro/dollar and gold/dollarparities in June 22 end, the data will also be followed in an adjusted way. Fur...

ISLAMABAD: At a review meeting of the National Coordination Committee on foreign-funded projects, the ministry reported that it was managing an ongoing portfolio of $34.8bn such projects of various sectors of the economy. “Out of the total portfolio, $15bn (43pc) is considered as problematic,” it added. On top of that, the meeting was informed that the “share of federal energy projects is about $3.3bn, of which $2.3bn (or almost 70pc) is rated as problematic”, an official statement said. No wonder then, the energy sector is emerging as a challenge to the country’s stability, an official said, referring to over 17pc losses and 10pc short recoveries in the power sector and 10-17pc system losses in the gas sector. Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq presided over the ...

The economic crisis in Turkey is worsening every passing day as inflation issurging at an alarming rate and manufacturing output going down while itscurrency spiraling down fast. This has led to huge inconvenience to people,thanks to food shortage, low wages, and high farming costs. So people areprotesting against the incumbent Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Thisdoes not come as good news to Erdogan, who is seeking anotherpresidential term in soon-to-be-held elections. Besides the inflation andfood shortage, the rising number of Covid-19 patients is another factor thathas angered people. The rising hardships are adding to the socio-politicaltensions, which are likely to be detrimental to Erdogan's prospects ofreelection.The annual inflation in Turkey hit 79 per cent in June this year, w...

Even as the Pak economy is faced with daunting challenges, the budget for FY2022-23 is neither innovative nor bold enough to address the structural issueswhich are proving a hurdle to economic revival of the country. The economy whichhas been continuously facing twin deficit (fiscal deficit and current account deficit)in the recent past while inflation is getting out of control with an imminent threat oflooming default. The authorities should have endeavoured to take up boldstructural reforms, but the budget disappointed.It came as a shock to both international and domestic observers as well theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) that Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s USD 47billion federal budget for the ensuing fiscal year has done little to address thefundamental problems facing the econom...

Washington: The scrutiny of Chinese banks pertains to individual characteristics such as concentration, rapid asset growth, the importance of shadow banking, the opaque interconnectedness of financial firms, and Chinese banks’ increased international clout. Recent reports indicate that Credit Suisse Group is slowing its expansion in China. Credit Suisse has postponed the launch of its locally incorporated bank until 2024, allowing it to expand its wealth management bank. Among the COVID-19 lockdowns and increased regulation, the firm’s management cited China’s slowing economy. Credit Suisse is also awaiting an on-site inspection from regulators before it can expand on the mainland, said Sherman. Because well-known local and entrenched banks control the majority of the market shar...

Gilgit Baltistan, PoK: Pakistan has a lot of loan on its head from China. To pay the load and settle the debt, Pakistan might give Gilgit-Baltistan regions, a Pakistan Occupied part to China on lease in order to pay the debt.  Chairman of Karakoram National Movement, Mumtaz Nagri also expressed fear that the isolated and neglected, Gilgit Baltistan could become a future battleground for the world powers to compete, reported Al Arabiya Post. The northern-most part of Kashmir borders China and Nagri expressed fear that Pakistan may cede GB to China. Nagri is arousing people and has asked them “not to be scared of ISI and be prepared to go to jail,” Pakistani media reports have said. Pakistan ceding GB that it illegally occupies would be a boon for China’s South Asian expansion...

There was a wave of optimism and sigh of relief when Pak authorities got an assurance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about restoration and extension of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which was scuttled due to Islamabad’s failure to meet conditionality of the bailout package. But now it is becoming increasingly difficult, amid double digit inflation, to eliminate fuel subsidies, stop tax exemption and levy new taxes, and meet the IMF conditionality. The recent suggestion from the IMF to Pak government in the Doha talks (May 18-25) to renegotiate the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) before making a payment worth USD 149 million to the Chinese power plants due to allegations of suspected overcharging, adds another dilemma for Islamabad and its tethering economy.   ...

According to Nomura Holdings Inc., China's economy is under extreme pressure since the first wave of Covid-19 struck in the spring of 2020. Construction and real estate sales are down. Due to growing expenses and lacklustre sales, many firms have a shutdown. Local governments that are in debt are reducing public worker wages. In the closing months of the last fiscal year, China's economy slowed significantly, as the government steps in to curb real estate speculation. This harmed other industries as well. Consumer spending came down due to lockdowns and travel restrictions to combat the coronavirus. New restrictions are affecting everything from online enterprises to after-school tutoring services as waves of layoffs have been witnessed. China's National Bureau of Statistics recorded, ...

Beijing, China: China has ramped up its testing with the country now requiring nucleic acid tests done within the past 48 hours just to enter public spaces, offices and even schools. However, it is estimated that the testing could cost some 1.7 trillion yuan a year in China's major cities alone, or about 1.5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. Moreover, the emotional toll of China's Zero-COVID strategy has also taken a toll on the Chinese people. This emotional toll has outweighed everything else. But it is interesting to note that China is still insisting that these stern policies are the only way to go, reported Straits Times. The world is now more than two years into the COVID pandemic and with this China's Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, quarantines and f...

Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan amid the economic crisis trying to convince International Monitory Fund (IMF) to layoff its loans. The talks have been organised for the 7th time but it got delayed as they could not reach to staff level agreement. Notably, the IMF pointed out the ‘deviations’ on fiscal sides from the policies agreed upon in the last review, Business Recorder reported. The Fund emphasized the urgency of concrete policy actions and including the context of removal the fuel and energy subsidies in the fiscal year 2023 budget, to achieve programme objectives.The IMF statement indicates that the government would be taking prior actions in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2022-23. The revival of the stalled programme can be expected by end of July/August 2022. “An I...